It has been a challenge to keep Christmas trees alive from the time period starting before Christmas and often ending well after New Year's Day. Many attempts have been made and many patents issued to solve that problem. The design for a rotatable Christmas tree stand presents further challenges to inventors.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,979,859 and 6,320,327 requires a slow speed motor, which is less available than a faster motor. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,128,854, 6,739,566, 6,868,754 and 7021598 solve the problem with speed reduction gear systems to reduce the rate of rotation of a fast motor to a more desirable, i.e., lower, speed.
In order for the rotational motion and energy of the motor positioned in the stationary support assembly to be used to rotate the tree, various bearing systems have been designed (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,979,859, 6,320,327, 6,128,854, 6,739,566, 6,868,754 and 7,021,598). The challenge is for a small stand to bear the weight of a heavy tree. The present invention, with its structure and the support gear, is especially effective in weight bearing.
A water supplying system is required for live Christmas trees to keep the tree fresh for a few weeks. There are essentially two types of watering systems, one that allows people to inject water directly to the tank (U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,859), and the other that allows a reservoir to feed water to the tank automatically (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,054,236, 5,076,009, 5,201,140, 5,522,179 and 6,966,334).
The combination of watering and rotating (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,859) has also been attempted. However, previous approaches lack full functionality. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,859 lacks the automatic water level control.